Camembert originated in the village of the same name in 1791 by Marie Fontaine.It became one of the most prized cheeses of the world.It is a surface ripened cheese and is sprayed with Penicillium camembertii or Pencillium Candidum to encourage the growth of the edible white mold on its surface.

It must be stored at 45F in a RH of 95%

One half gallon of milk will make enough curd to fill a standard camembert mould that is 4.38 ï¿½ x4.58ï¿½ the mould had drainage holes in the sides and is open both ends and makes two pound of cheese.

CAMEMBERT.

1 hour 30 mins.

Warm one gallon of milk to 90F and add half a carton of buttermilk mix thoroughly and let ripen for 1.5 hours.

Add quarter Tsp of rennet in cool water stir well but gently and leave to set for one hour until clean break is achieved.

Keeping the temp at 90F cut the curd into half inch cubes and stir gently for 15 mins.

Sterilize the moulds and mats .

Leave the pot of curds rest for 15 mins and then pour off the whey to the level of the curds.

Now ladle the curds gently into the moulds until full.

Let the mould drain for one hour ands then flip the moulds be carefull you do not tear the cheese when removing the mat.

Turn the cheese at hourly intervals for five hours or until the cheese is about 1.5 inches high and has shrunk from the sides of the mould.

When the cheese had sufficiently drained sprinkle coarse salt over all surfaces of the cheese and let it rest for 10 mins for the sale to dissolve.

Put the white mold powder in a pint of water in an atomizer spray and shake well to dissolve it. Lightly spray all surfaces the cheese should not appear to be wet.

AGEING.

Place the cheese on a cheese mat and age at 45F and 95%RH.Let the cheese set for five days until; the first whiskers of mold appear on the surface.

When the white mold appears turn the cheese over and leave for nine days .

After 14 days of ageing a profuse white mold will have developed.

Wrap the cheese in cellophane (not plastic wrap as it needs to breath) and store at 45F for four to six weeks.

The cheese is ready to eat when it has a runny consistency throughout when served at room temperature. This should be about six weeks after wrapping.

If a blue mold appears the it is too humid reduce the humidity and remove the blue mold.

I've got them Rik, my old man is one of eight kids all with kids of their own, we have some great get togethers here which eat me out of house and home. Mind you, if I wasn't into cooking I doubt they'd be here so often.I'm about to set off some stiltons which I will hide. I'd like to experience the full effect of a well matured home made version.

Rik, regarding your original recipe at the beginning of the thread, if the cheese gets some blue on it is it a "very" bad thing or will it just turn out differently?

Due to space constraints I can't use the dome approach to keep them humid so I'm aging a camembert and stiltons together in a tiny wine fridge individually wrapped in greaseproof paper. The camembert smells like a camembert but there is blue on it. As I have few alternatives I would like to continue experimenting with this method of production unless it will produce inedible cheese. Your advise would be very much appreciated,

I don't have Rik's expertise, but I have eaten and very much enjoyed blued brie and camembert. One of the things that I love about cheese is the variations that occur, even amongst producers using the same recipe, milk from the same cows, grazed on the same pastures.

If you want to kill the blue mold on you camembert then just rub it off with a vinegar rag and spray it with penicilium candidum from your spray bottleOnce the white carpet takes over then the blue will not enter the rind of the cheese unless you puncture it,

But I must say that Blue Brie or give it it's right name of Bresse Bleu is very nice but not as strong as stilton.

You must have a go at a Gouda it is a very nice cheese to make and you can eat it after a week or so but it will be mild but nice on toast or pizza.

As long as it doesn't have the dreaded black mould on I'm going to eat it. I haven't been disappointed yet.My camembert has developed a nice white fur coat. I'll post a picture soon when I get the camera back

Here's the goats cheese I cut in half. It has turned all kinds of wonderful colours, smells good and has started to grow a white mould. It was starrted about the same time as the camembert in the previous picture, but has been slower to grow the mould.